Table of content

Introduction 9
1.1 Context 9
1.2 Problem Statement 9
1.3 Research question 10
1.4 Structure of the thesis 10
2. Artificial Intelligence and automation 11
3. The Accountant, Auditor and Management Accountant 13
3.1 Definitions 13
3.2 A brief history of the accountant 14
3.3 Financial reporting 15
3.3.1 Objectives of the financial reporting 15
3.3.2 Qualitative characteristics of useful financial information 16
3.3.2.1 Fundamental qualitative characteristics 16
3.3.2.2 Enhancing qualitative characteristics 17
4. Systematic literature study 19
4.1 Databases and search strategy 19
4.2 Study selection 19
4.3 Quality appraisal 18
4.4 Data extraction 24
4.5 Description of the studies 24
4.6 Consequences on the accounting profession 25
4.7 Moral decision-making 30
4.8 Future role 30
4.9 Implications on small accounting firms 32
4.10 Implication on the labour market 32
4.11 Solutions 33
5. Methodology 35
5.1 Research design 35
5.1.1 Interviews 35
5.1.2 Population 35
5.1.3 Place 35
5.1.4 Description of the respondents 36
5.2 Data collection 37
5.2.1 Semi-structured interviews 37
5.3 Reliability and validity 37
5.3.1 Reliability 38
5.3.2 Validity 38
5.3.2.1 Internal validity 38
5.3.2.2 External validity 39
5.4 Ethical considerations 39
6. Results 41
6.1 Description of the results 41
6.2 The use of automation in the company 41
6.3 Qualitative characteristics of the financial information 47
6.4 Skills 51
6.5 Small accounting companies 57
7. Discussion 59
8. Conclusion 61
9. Limitations 63
10. Future research 65
11. Management and policy implementations 67
References 69
Annexes 77
Annex 1: Printscreen databases 78
a. ABI/INFORM Collection 78
b. Accounting, Tax and Banking Collection 78
c. Web of Science 79
Annex 2: Overview selected articles 80
Annex 3: Interview guideline 89
Annex 4: Confidentiality agreement 89